Information technology

IT workers are in high demand. Almost every company relies on them, whether it's a programmer, software developer or the person you call when your computer goes on the fritz.

"We live in a high-tech world," said Katie Bardaro, PayScale's lead economist. "There's been super-high demand for IT workers over the past seven years."

The perennial shortage in IT staffers stems from the demands of the job. It requires a specific set of knowledge and skills, according to Bardaro.

In fact, unemployment among IT workers is among the lowest in the nation. In February, the industry's jobless rate was 5.2%, about 2.5 percentage points below the national average, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And the pay is high. Median income ranges from about $50,000 to more than $100,000 a year. Pay raises for IT workers outpaced all others over the 12 months ended March 31, reported PayScale.

Source: PayScale The PayScale Index tracks changes in what full-time employees earn over time based on quarterly compensation trends. This report is based on the year-over-year percentage change in compensation for the 12 months ending March 31, 2012.